Donald Trump Just Doubled Down on His Anti-Abortion Stance

In a report from The Hill, the Republican nominee sent a letter to anti-abortion leaders dated “September 2016,” calling on them to join his campaign’s “Pro-Life Coalition.” This group would be lead by Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion non-profit organization. The letter lays out a tougher stance than we’ve seen from Trump up to this point.

Most notably, he commits to making the Hyde Amendment permanent law, “to protect taxpayers from having to pay for abortions.” But as Rebecca Traister at The Cut points out, this will limit many women’s ability to have control over their health choices. Traister writes:

“The Hyde Amendment means that American women—many of them women of color—who cannot afford health insurance are effectively prevented from availing themselves of a legal medical procedure that is their right and that is fundamental to their ability to exert autonomy over their reproductive lives and thus their economic and familial futures.”

Trump also compares his stance on abortion to that of his opponent Hillary Clinton, who supports the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, a move that the Democratic Party laid out in its platform earlier this summer. Trump’s letter also correctly notes that Clinton is committed to appointing pro-choice justices, but falsely claims that Clinton supports abortion until an hour before birth. In addition to making Hyde permanent law, Trump’s letter says he would sign the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act that bans abortions after 20 weeks, and that Planned Parenthood would be defunded if it continued to perform abortions.

You know, technically Trump is right. The standard pro-choice position is the same as Roe v Wade, i.e., that third trimester abortions are legal in cases of life endangerment. So, highly unlikely, but a woman could get an abortion for that reason an hour before birth.

“But can a social edict not only put someone to death but dehumanize her as well?”

Mr. Dunkle tries to equate the condemnation of a criminal with the status of a fetus. He fails.

A fetus is only a humanoid, having many of the physical characteristics of a human being, like an inflatable sex doll.

As such, it can only be given the status of fully human by the person who alone is capable of nurturing and protecting it. When a real child is born, there are many such people. The law recognizes this and is constructed to protect the welfare of the child.

When it is in the fetal stage, there is only one person who has that capability– the woman or man who is pregnant. She (or he) alone can protect it; he or she alone can nurture it. It is the pregnant person who alone has the right to say, “This is my baby.” The law cannot determine that for her.